diamong grading variability?

[gongli]

Hi

I came across this article yesterday though it's from a few years ago, and it didn't seem to come up in searching the forum. basically says the grading is subjective even at the same lab. They consulted Cap Beesley, former head of AGL. there's a bunch of stuff at the beginning about appraisals which i think everyone knows represent retail prices and so that's not exactly the interesting part. what is interesting is that cap beesley sent them to 4 labs and then again and the grades were all different, sometimes significantly.

nbcnews.to/13aNGxx

I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on this? isn't this a concern? has this kind of thing gone away or is it still a problem?

Thanks
-Neal

 

[denverappraiser]

It’s worse now than ever before. It’s a bad idea to rely on an appraisal unless YOU are the client for the same reason you shouldn’t rely on legal advice from opposing council. Even then, if you're going to rely on an appraisal, read the entire report, not just the value conclulsion.

Anyone who wants to can call themselves a gem lab, a gemologist or an appraiser. There is no license required or even available. The key is you don’t have to care. Do not rely on the opinion of a lab or appraiser unless you first vet them and find their opinions worthy of merit. The default answer is NO,and the burden is on them to convince you otherwise.